As we recently learned, the fur industry is booming. Global fur sales rose by 70% from 2000 to 2010. Annual sales of fur pelts reached $15-16 billion, according to the fur industry's trade association, during the winter of 2010-11 (pelts are sold during a season that runs from around October through March, and the 2010-11 season is the most recent for which figures were available). An industry spokesperson attributed the rise primarily to two factors: designers who have incorporated small amounts of fur into a wider array of garments, making fur an option in warmer climates, and "a younger generation whose passion is not animal rights."

I just.... what? This is ridiculous. Why do people have to be so awful all the time?

Yeah, you have to wonder about where they are getting this from. But if norms around fur really are changing it definitely represents some worrying backsliding in public concern for animals. Between this and the NYT articles talking about how vegan diets are getting more mainstream, I feel like pushing for the broader (more accurate) definition of veganism is probably needed.

Well obviously the economy is booming and people are thinking "what frivolous way can I spend my money?"

When I have gone to NY in the cooler months, I swear I've never seen so much fur. It is crazy. I see it on older people in DC and when traveling in the cooler months as well. Growing up in CA, I never noticed it much other than very rarely.

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There just isn't the same focus by the AR movement on why fur is cruel as there was when PETA was doing "i'd rather go naked than wear fur." I feel like that message was everywhere for a while. Now it feels like there are so many groups, but i don't see one large, mainstream group with a focused anti-fur message. Most groups seem to focus on veganism is healthy outreach instead. And PETA's credibility seems to have disappeared up its own asparagus.

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Well, I think that those kinds of ads make crasshole feel like rebels by wearing fur anyway, especially since some of the models have gone back to wearing fur. I'm not sure that they work. I think that horrifying images of animals in traps probably work better*, but those are...horrifying.

One of the really sad things is watching my generation embracing it. I have many 20-something colleagues who wear fur. Not big fur coats, but they'll have rabbit fur collars, or they have tails (from foxes, I think?) that they attach to their purses. It's so upsetting.

I think why the AR community stopped putting so much effort into combating fur was because for a while, there was a huge stigma surrounding fur, so fur campaigns got put on the back burner while groups started focusing on animals on food production.

my friend and i saw one of these on the subway the other week and were like, what the fizzle? even if you think fur is attractive in some way when it's part of a garment, what is the point of this sort of thing? do they stroke it when they're sad? does it make the other hipsters think they're fierce? is it part of the taxidermy renaissance? we puzzled over it all the way to williamsburg.

_________________"rise from the ashes of douchebaggery like a fancy vegan phoenix" - amandabear"I'm pretty sure the moral of this story is: fork pants." - cq

When I was about 12 and not even close to being vegetarian or vegan those PETA naked model ads were actually my first exposure to caring about animals and realizing that they are treated poorly. I had the one with all of the models together up on my wall as a poster. So, it's easy to say that they are stupid ads, but at least from personal experience I can say that they worked for me back in the day.

Here you wear seal fur to show patriotic pride. The good news though is that its so ridiculously expensive I know no one my age who can afford it.

Aside from the tails fad (ewww), I can see how sneaking bits of fur onto garments works. I used to work at a Sears and I'd say that most of the "fur" collars and trims were fake, but then we'd get a coat or two that had real fur on it. Aside from the vegetarians, who checks to see if its real or not? I never did even though when I was omni I was still against fur :/

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Well some fake fur turns out to be 'real' fur, but dog fur instead or at least that was the case a couple years ago. Anyway, I never like fur, fake or real. I went looking for a coat a couple years ago and I swear I couldn't find one without 'fake' fur. They all had some time of collar or what not.

_________________You are all a disgrace to vegans. Go f*ck yourselves, especially linanil.

It really is getting bad here in the UK. I've just been flicking through my Mum's Toast catalogue (upmarket clothes and home stuff) and was horrified to see they're selling rabbit fur hats and coat trim. I've never seen fur sold by a mainstream brand before.

There is so much ignorance about how it's produced - keep hearing arguments like 'it's the same as leather' and even 'all animals die in the end'. I agree there needs to be a more coherent and powerful message. I went on a march last year and 'fur kills' slogan just isn't enough - most people eat meat which also kills animals - they need to understand that it's not the fact that animals die that's the problem, it's how they live and how they die which is so horrendous.

It certainly isn't just younger people who wear fur, it's also older people who never really thought there was a problem and now don't have to worry about getting any grief because it's everywhere. I'm convinced that Kate Moss has done more to make wearing fur acceptable, and therefore increased sales & animal torture, than anyone else in the UK. And when her BFFs are/have been Stella McCartney and Sadie Frost, she certainly knows the horror of fur, so although ignorance is certainly one reason why fur is back, so is not giving a ****

Here Canada Goose parkas (really expensive down filled parkas with fox fur trim) have been soooooo trend for the past few winders , it seems once the trims came in , everything else did too. People are actually wearing full-on fur coats or buying fur throw pillows in my circle of pals.

Ughhhh, the Canada Goose jackets are forking hideous and SO popular. Down filled and lined with fox fur...and cost like $700...and yet every forking college student in my city trots around like a douche wearing one. They make my head feel like exploding.

_________________Did you notice the slight feeling of panic at the words "Chicken Basin Street"? Like someone was walking over your grave? Try not to remember. We must never remember. - mumblesIs this about devilberries and nazifruit again? - footface

One of the things I've noticed with the artsy, fur-clad, 20-somethings I know is that when asked about it, they like to tout how it's a natural materiel, and it's soooo much softer/pretty/lush than the faux varieties. Barf.

I know a lot about what textiles are on the market (I'm in school for textile design) and recently there has been plenty of very convincing faux fur available. Why can't people settle for that?!

Then, the "natural" argument. Pray tell, what is natural about animals being held in tiny cages, only to be brutally murdered by humans?

Just been told that there will be a fur protest in London on 8th Dec http://www.caft.org.uk. Went last year and it was a fantastic day, actually doing something by getting information leaflets in to the hands of shoppers instead of just fuming everytime someone walks past with a racoon dog hood was a great feeling and was amazed at the positive reaction from most shoppers too.

I work at a department store and occasionally have to deal with leather, which grosses me out (It feels like skin! Because it is.) but I can deal with. The other day I opened a box and found it was filled with real fur-lined leather gloves. I had to close it back up and leave it there for someone else to unpack.

I really hope fur isn't becoming too much of a trend. I can only imagine how much worse it could get for the animals if there's more of a demand for cheaper fur.